Archive | April, 2012

Jonathan Tropper made me miss my subway stop

26 Apr

Author alert! Jonathan Tropper‘s entertaining, easy-reading novels are funny, smart and relatable. The characters tend to be in their mid-30s, all  dysfunctional for different reasons (think Tolstoy), and render flights and commutes tolerable without making you feel bad about yourself for reading chick lit. I hate chick lit. Behold, his canon—I starred my faves.

**This is Where I Leave You: How can a family in mourning be so funny? I don’t know—but I laughed out loud and gave it to my dad.

**The Book of Joe: One of his meatiest, it’s about an author returning to his hometown after 17 years. Strong themes of friendship, family  and loss.

Everything Changes: Our hero is engaged to be married but in love with someone else; his estranged dad suddenly drops back into his life. My sister read the entire thing on a three-hour flight.

Plan B: His first book, and it shows. But I love seeing how he’s progressed over time.

How to Talk to a Widower: Waiting for this to come at the library!

Tags:

Mushy peas are not just for babies

23 Apr

I learned this last week at Whitehall, a Modern British restaurant in the West Village, where everyone left happy after a group dinner. Cozy atmosphere. Terrific service. Super gin cocktails. And interesting food with British touches from the team behind Mary Queen of Scots and Highlands.

The Mushy Pea Fritters with Minted Yoghurt (leaving in English “H”) was prob my fave snacky item. Or the House Cut Chips with HP Sauce—our only mistake was not ordering more. App: Salmon with Celery Root-Horseradish Panna Cotta (where weird meets good). Mains ranged from chicken to sea bream to pork chop, and the best dessert was Bitter Chocolate Brownie (not bitter, yes warm, no nuts).

Don’t come here on a diet or a budget. But with a small group celebrating something special, you can eat like the queen for a day.

Tags: , , ,

Amazing work, sad story

18 Apr

Of the Pulitzer Prize winners announced this week, the feature photography series Welcome Home is incredibly poignant.

Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post (second Pulitzer in three years!) introduces us to Scott Ostrom, a Marine who returned home from Iraq with a severe case of PTSD.

SEE SCOTT’S STORY

Tags: , , , , ,

It’s hard to be a wine snob when you’re poor

13 Apr

So I don’t even try. But surely you have heard that wine in a box is back. And Black Box is the best of the bunch as far as taste and value. One box has the same amount of wine as 4 bottles, and because it stays fresh for up to a month, you can drink a little at a time without feeling like it will go to waste. **There’s also something disturbingly gratifying about pouring wine from a spout.** In NYC a box of Shiraz was $24, which comes out to $6 a bottle—for decent, everyday wine (and it’s probably less at Costco). Choose from four reds and four whites—and toast to saving money.

Where to Buy

Tags: , ,

Support the children of a photojournalist killed in Libya

11 Apr

On May 15 at Christie’s,  photojournalism prints will be auctioned off in memory of Anton Hammerl, a South African photojournalist killed in Libya last year (around the same time as Tim Hetherington). For 44 days his family was led to believe he was in captivity, when it truth he had been killed by Gaddafi loyalists. He left behind three kids ages 11, 8 and 1; the auction will raise money for their education costs.

One of his final images

Leading contemporary photojournalists have donated their work to the auction, which is the first of its kind at Christie’s. Please consider attending, bidding or donating to the family of this talented man who was left to die in the desert.

Learn more at friendsofanton.org.

Read a piece from The Atlantic last year.

Photo: flickr/sodaniechea

Tags: , , ,